The Big Crate

By: Christine Olsen, Registrar

As any registrar can attest, sometimes we have to get creative in our line of work. Case in point: When a painting for our current exhibit America’s Rome came to us from the Spanierman Gallery in New York City last spring the crate was larger than I expected and I had to think fast on my feet. The painting, Effect Near Noon – The Appian Way by George Loring Brown, is only 81” high x 110” wide but its crate measures 92 ½” high x 118” wide. Below is a picture of the painting on display in the gallery (it really is a beautiful piece, due much in part to its scale).

By crating standards it really isn’t that large, but this is the largest crate that has come into Fenimore Art Museum during my time here as Registrar. Despite receiving measurements from the crate fabricator and checking the maximum door height of our loading dock prior to shipment, upon delivery I discovered that the crate simply wasn’t going to make it through our loading dock doors and down the winding halls to the Great Hall Gallery.

After weighing my options, one of which was to uncrate the painting on the loading dock thereby exposing it to a rapid shift in temperature and humidity as well as a long hand-carry to the gallery, I opted to take a more creative, and believe it or not, safer route. After triple checking the door measurements and carefully discussing the logistics, the crate was driven over the lawn of the museum and brought directly in through the back, emergency entrance of the Great Hall Gallery whose door frames are extra tall.

The next day, after acclimating to the environment of the gallery, the painting was unpacked and hung and the crate moved to my office for storage; the only storage room in which it would fit. Below is a picture of the crate in my office to give some perspective; it will feel really empty in here once it is gone.

Needless to say this will all have to be done in reverse in January when it is time for the loan to go back to Spanierman Gallery. By then there will be snow to contend with on the back lawn of the museum…but that is another blog.